Mon - 20 Apr/15

Up and on our way by 8:15 a.m.

Dark clouds with occasional light rain.

Got to the Mammoth Cave Welcome Center about 8:45 a.m. Picked up our reserved tickets for the 9:15 "Frozen Niagara" Tour. This tour is only available at this time and 4:15 p.m. We decided on the earliest departure.

With only 12 stairs, plus an optional 98, it is easy and suited to seniors (that's us) and those with difficulty walking. This is a short visit (1 1/4 hours) through a very heavily decorated part of Mammoth Cave. Our tour is 1/4 mile long which is nothing in the World's Longest Cave System. There are over 400 miles of linked caves that have been measured and documented. New discoveries and connections add several miles to this figure each year. It truly deserves it's name - Mammoth!

Located in Central Kentucky north of Bowling Green and about 10 miles from I-26, Mammoth Cave will be celebrating 200 years of tours in 2016. Mammoth Cave National Park was established to preserve the cave system.

It only became a National Park on July 1, 1941, it became a World Heritage Site on October 27, 1981, and an international Biosphere Reserve on September 26, 1990.

Mammoth Cave developed in a thick limestone strata capped by a layer of sandstone, making the system remarkably stable. Many parts of Kentucky, especially along sections of the I-26 corridor, are not so fortunate. Lacking the protective sandstone overlay to protect them from water infiltration, they tend to collapse making this like Florida - prone to sinkholes.

Our destination tomorrow will be to visit a sinkhole - the one that swallowed several Corvettes that were on display at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. They eventually got the Corvettes out. I hope the left the hole?

At 9:15 we exited the Visitors Center to waiting area "B". After an orientation by our Park Ranger (guide) we boarded a bus to the cave entrance.

Along the way our guide pointed out physical features and wildlife. He announced: "Wild Turkey" to the right of the bus. I looked; but didn't see a bottle - just some crazy bird! (grin).

About 15 minutes later we arrived at the locked entrance. Again, after more orientation under a sheltered area, we entered.

Factoid: In 1841, cave owner Dr. John Croghan believed the cave air might cure his patients suffering from tuberculosis. He brought 16 patients into Mammoth Cave that winter and housed them in stone and wood huts. After some perished, they left the cave, for of course the cave air offered no cure.

We enjoyed the tour. The paths were easy to follow and had guide rails along much of the route. Our guide elaborated, at different points, on the geology and ecology of the cave. Being the last in (i.e. slowest) we got to lead on the way out.

After departing the bus upon our return we were required, as are all cave visitors, to walk across a "Bio-Mat" to disinfect our shoes after White-Nose Syndrome was detected in a Kentucky cave earlier this year. These bio-mats consist of “a nylon mat (similar to a household "Welcome Mat") saturated in a Lysol solution comparable to that used in home cleaning. This acts as a last line of defense to kill the fungal spores that cause WNS.

The WNS condition is named for a distinctive fungal growth around the muzzles and on the wings of hibernating bats. First identified in February 2006, the fungus has been found in caves and mines of 25 states throughout the Northeastern USA, as far south as Mississippi, as far west as Missouri and ins five Canadian Provinces. The fungus typically wakes hibernating bats, which leave the cave in search of food or water, and deplete energy reserves necessary to make it through the winter. It has caused several million bat deaths resulting in the US Fish and Wildlife Service calling for a moratorium on caving activities in affected areas. They also strongly recommend decontamination of clothing and equipment after caving in the know areas.

After a required visit to the Gift Shop, we departed the park heading for the I-65 interchange. Right on the other side of the interchange was our destination for lunch: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and Restaurant. Unfortunately, everyone else in the area must have had the same idea. The 15 minute wait gave us time to wash our hands and visit the "Country Store" part.

After lunch we got back on I-65 and headed north. We exited after about 10 miles and took the "Back Roads" to the Abbey of Gethsemani. Since 1848, when 44 Trappist monks from the Abbey of Melleray in western France made themselves a new home in the hills of central Kentucky, Gethsemani has been a hardworking community, supporting themselves at first by farming, then by sales (mostly mail-order) of homemade fruitcake, cheese and fudge.  We passed on buying the fruitcake as we still have a box left from our visit to the Claxton Bakery in Georgia. We can; however, vouch for their cheese (purchased aged and herb types) and the fudge being first rate. Of the 17 monasteries currently in the USA, this was the first. There are 6 in Canada.

They describe their Abbey of Gethsemani as a school of the Lord's service, a training ground for brotherly love. Following Christ under a rule and an abbot, the Trappist monks lead lives of prayer, work, and sacred reading, steeped in the heart and mystery of the Church. The Abbey is a monastery in the Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance (OCSO), part of the body of the Roman Catholic Church. They support themselves through the labour of their hands.

Our next destination was the Boyhood home of Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, we could only see the site from a distance. If I had gone on-line prior to our visit I would have seen the Park Alert: The Boyhood Home Unit at Knob Creek is closed due to construction at the site. Whereas the site is a construction zone there are public safety concerns. Construction is due to be completed in the latter part of 2015.

We continued on to Bardstown, KY. We could not understand why the GPS indicated it would take more than 2 hours to go 41 miles. What we didn't realize was that we were crossing into the Eastern Time Zone.

Bardstown's downtown area is designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historical Places. In 2012, Bardstown was voted as "The Most Beautiful Small Town in America" in the Destination Marketing Association International's "Best of the Road" competition.

We passed by the Old Talbott Tavern, built in 1779 and located just off the Courthouse Square in the center of Bardstown. It has had several notable Americans passed through it's doors, including the frontiersman Daniel Boone and Abraham Lincoln the 16th President of the United States. Bullet holes in an upstairs wall are said to have been fired by Jesse James. The tavern, according to locals, has ghosts and other paranormal activity.

Bardstown is the site of My Old Kentucky Home State Park. Judge John Rowan and his wife Ann Lytle Rowan built "Federal Hill" on their plantation.

Reportedly the mansion inspired his cousin Stephen Foster to write the song "My Old Kentucky Home". We have previously visited Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park in White Springs, FL. This park was situated on the banks of the legendary Suwannee River. The center honors the memory of American composer Stephen Foster, who wrote "Old Folks at Home," the song that made the (Suwannee) river famous. The museum featured exhibits about Foster's most famous songs and his music could be heard emanating from the park's 97-bell carillon throughout the day. In Craft Square, we watched demonstrations of quilting, blacksmithing, stained glass making, and other crafts, and, of course, visited their gift shop. We thought it would be appropriate to do the same here. As usual, we bought a few things we didn't know we needed.

Bonus: We had wondered if the trees that sported lovely white (or pink) flowers that we saw all along the Natchez Trace last week were Dogwood. They were in full blossom on the grounds here and we were told this time of year was called "Dogwood Winter" by locals. I suspect it originated because, from a distance, the white blossoms looked like branch leaves covered with snow.

Several distilleries operate in and around the Bardstown area, including Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Barton and Maker's Mark (located in nearby Loretto). Many offer tours and tastings. The regional production of bourbon is celebrated by the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival. A map of "The Bourbon Trail", similar to "wine Trail" maps is available. The phrase, "Bourbon Capital of the World" applies exclusively to Bardstown and is copyrighted similar to "Champagne" representing that region's wine in France.. 

We tried to go to the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey; but it is closed on Monday.

We would have liked to eat at Mammy's Kitchen" as well; however, since we ate in a later time zone, we weren't hungry yet.

We headed back to the KOA for the evening. With the time zone change the GPS indicated we would arrive before we left. Now that's fast! (Time Zone Change going West)

Charlotte made yummy snacks for supper using the Monk's cheese w/pepperoni, pickles on Ritz crackers.

Once again, I had to shrink the original pictures to 10% of their original size to get them to upload to the blog. It only took about 2 hours; but, here's the blog for today.